Dimapur, March 1 (MExN): The Working Committee, Naga National Political Groups (WC, NNPGs) on Tuesday stated that the ‘blame game’ on who the real architect of the Sixteen Point Agreement of 1960 and the Shillong Accord of 1975 is, must end.
“In order to do so, the career and activities of late Ralengnao Khathing Tangkhul, also called Major Bob Khathing, MC, MBE (1912-1990), cannot escape the scrutiny of history,” the WC, NNPGs said in a press release issued through its Media Cell.
Citing deliberations with Naga national political leaders of the past, retired Indian bureaucrats and Indian military figures, and archives of office memos in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, the WC, NNPGs claimed the he was instrumental in the demarcation of Nagaland state boundary. The Government of India utilized his experience as a soldier, an Assistant political officer in NEFA area and also as Indian IFAS officer in the Naga Hills and enlisted him to verify the topography around the Naga homeland, it said.
While the political narratives have changed today, “History clearly says he was a primary member in the committee who finalized the draft of 16 point Agreement. In short, Bob Kathing Tangkhul played a key role in dividing Naga ancestral land into Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Burma,” it added.
